Photo image from Ferrari movie page

Ferrari focuses on one year, 1957, in the turbulent life of Enzo Ferrari. His only son, Dino, died the previous year. His marriage to Laura is on shaky ground due to his philandering. He has a son with his mistress, ad she is pressuring him to acknowledge him publicly. Also, according to the film, his car company is in financial peril.

Ferrari is portrayed as a cold hearted, prideful man who believes people are expendable. The town of Maranello treats him as a godlike figure. Even the priest praises him during mass, calling him a carpenter who works in metal.

There are two stories in the film-one involving the racing business, and the other about Ferrari’s personal life.

When Maserati brings driver Jean Behra to the local track to set a track record, Ferrari immediately brings his driver, Luigi Castellotti out to reclaim the honor. Castellotti dies in the attempt in a crash scene that is a bit exaggerated.

Ferrari immediately hires Alfonso de Portago on the spot because he now needs a driver.

Ferrari’s financial advisers tell him that he needs to win the Mille Miglia to avoid bankruptcy, and that the company needs to produce more passenger cars to stay solvent. They point to Jaguar as a successful car company that also races.

Ferrari’s response is “Jaguar races to sell cars. I sell cars to race.” I believe in reality that Ferrari was a better businessman than that.

We see the beginnings of what led to war with Ford six years later as Ferrari tells a reporter to write a false story saying that Ford has made an offer to buy his company so that he can extract a higher offer from Fiat.

The action in the Mille Miglia was great. It was fun to see the Maseratis and Ferraris of that era running again. Some of the cars were the real cars, and others were fabricated faithfully to resemble the actual vehicles.

The tragic crash during the race was handled about as gently as it could have been but it wis still horrific. Be prepared. I knew it was coming and it is still frightening.

On the domestic side, Laura Ferrari, played by Penelope Cruz in one of her best performances ever controls the company’s finance. She has a quiet anger, partly due to the death of her son, and partly because of Enzo’s wandering.

His mistress, Lina Lardi, continues to press Enzo to acknowledge their son publicly, making him the heir to the Ferrari company. He is reluctant to make the move for fear of angering Laura.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari and Penelope Cruz as Laura do outstanding work. I felt that Cruz really stole the show. Some of the racing scenes were very good, although the shots of a crowd of cars racing together through a small town were not realistic. The Mille Miglia began rally style, and the cars were never that close to each other.

I really liked the film, and I suggest that if you haven’t seen it yet, please read about the 1957 Mille Miglia before you go. Preparation for the scene near the end of the race will help.